Family members describe Standley as "quirky," and "gruff" but with a heart "as big as all outdoors." His children were happy to see his last wishes carried out, even if the logistics behind burying a man on a motorcycle, inside of a Plexiglas box, wasn't exactly simple.
The Dayton Daily News reports that Standley's sons built the box to both accommodate the bike and rider, and also to fit inside the nine-by-eleven-foot cement container needed for the burial. Meanwhile, a team of five embalmers prepared Standley's body, securing him to his Harley with straps and a metal back brace.
Tammy Vernon, of Vernon Funeral Homes in Standley's hometown of Mechanicsburg, OH, told The Dayton Daily News, "He was the one who kept throwing this idea out there, to be buried on his bike. We were glad to assist him."
Though not the first to be memorialized on the motorcycle of his dreams, Standley's wishes, and his family's perseverance to see them carried out, are a final flourish that we think much of the Harley-riding community will appreciate.
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